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Living not too far from Lancashire, I have grown up with the traditional 'lancashire hotpot'. This is a delicious meal, which simply cannot be beaten when made from fresh ingredients, on a cold winters day, after a hard days work, by my mum. Therefore this Heinz microwavable 'taste the difference lancashire lamb hotpot' has no chance of getting a good rating from me. . . . But lets give it a try anyway.

I purhased this Heinz Lancashire Lamb Hotpot (from Heinz taste of home range), from my local morrisons store recently for 1 pound 39p, thinking it would be ideal as a snack when we had nothing of substance in the cupboards. The product is basically a plastic pot, containing 430 grams of Lancashire Lamb Hotpot, which is prepared for consuming, by heating for a few minutes in the microwave.

** How to cook - and most importantly 'taste' ** To cook the soup, remove the lid, peel off the plastic film, replace the lid, and microwave on full power for 1 minute 30 seconds. Remove lid, and stir thoroughly, and then place back in the micorwave and heat on full power for a further 1 minute, leave to stand for 1 minute, and 'hey presto'! (Based on microwave cat E - 850 W) I realised after I pulled out the container to stir it midway through heating, that this smelled like the 'real McCoy', and I was intrigued as to how it would taste, as it certainly didn't look too great as I stirred it at the half way point, mainly due to the greasy looking soup that surrounded the chunks of veg and lamb.

Having tried numerous packet soups, tinned soups etc over the years this did really stand out as being a chunky, and wholesome filling soup (regardless of the grease). Care is needed on removing the container from the microwave after heating is complete, as the container and contents are piping hot, and the pot is filled very full.

The first thing that I noticed once the heating procedure was complete, was yet again, the greasy looking surface to the soup. Large round bubbles of grease hung to the top, but this was surrounded by all the vegetable's colours shining through, and giving off the sort of aromour that I had been accoustomed to.I was reaaly impressed by the taste! I soon forgot about the uninteresing sight of the surface of the soup, and was gulping the stuff down. The soup tasted lovely, full of lamb and veg flavour, the veg was fresh tasting, and the lamb was fat free, and consisted of numerous large chunks, which were delicious, and very tender.

** Ingredients and nutritional values ** Each 430g pot provides;

280 calories 10.5.9g sugars8.0g fat

There are no artifical colous, flavours or preservatives in the hotpot.

** Overall Opinion ** This is a great tasting and reasonably healthy, very warming snack, especially in the cold winter months. It is easy to cook, and would be ideal for lunch or evening time snacks for children and adults of all ages. At only 280 calories per pot, this is not something you have to worry about eating if watching your weight, and it does act as a full meal, without even adding bread.

There are also numerous other flavours and types of casseroles and soups, available in the Heinz 'Taste of Home' range as follows: